Election Night Across the Board

In my last entry, I wrote about working in the newsroom at the Democrat & Chronicle during Election Day 2012. In order to follow up on it, I’d like to talk about how other newsrooms across the country handled the Obama re-election. That’s right; we’re going back in time to November 6, 2012.

When I arrived at the Democrat & Chronicle newsroom to do election coverage, one of the first things I noticed were all the big televisions in the room. Most of the televisions at the newsroom were turned onto CNN for election polling results. For most of the night, the televisions stayed placed on CNN. I arrived at the newsroom around 8, and from 8-11 I was getting my election updates primarily from CNN. However, as the night rolled on, CNN’s coverage became increasingly frustrating.

The way CNN was doing it is that they would have election updates every hour. For example, at 9:00 there would be 5-10 minutes of updates; states that had swung to either Obama or Romney, final results for some Senate elections, and so on. But after that little tidbit of updates, it was back to speculation and commercial breaks… for the next hour. All the while, I was getting text results from friends who were watching other networks, like ABC and the Huffington Post. When Obama won California, several friends informed me immediately. The win was actually broken by NBC at 11:12 p.m. when Obama took Ohio, says CBS. Through it all, however, CNN kept falling behind.

For the most chaotic coverage of the night, though, the award must go to FOX News. “It’s not a traditional America anymore,” said FOX pundit Bill O’Reilly. Commentator Karl Rove actually had an on-screen meltdown around 11:30 after Obama took Ohio. Rove, a former member of the Bush administration and super PAC mastermind of the Republican Party, seemed unable to deal with the network’s call that Obama had won out. 5 minutes after NBC called it, FOX followed suit; only Rove disputed these results on-air. In the video below, you can see the highlights of FOX’s descent into a very bizarre world. Perhaps the nadir of the FOX coverage came after Rove’s refusal to accept the Obama victory. Anchor Megyn Kelly commented “that’s awkward,” got up from her desk, and then walked backstage- with the camera trailing behind her, step-by-agonizing-step- to meet with the decision team. According to FOX insiders, the decision team was given a three minute heads-up that they were about to go on-air. Daring readers can view a compilation of FOX’s most awkward 11/6/12 moments below, courtesy of New York Magazine.

Meanwhile, most of the other news networks had innovative set pieces to draw in the audience attention. As shown on CNN, the top of the Empire State Building was decorated with red and blue lights as a highly visible way to show election results. As either candidate acquired electoral votes, more and more lights on the Empire State Building would flicker into life. CNN would keep cutting back to Times Square and the crowd that had formed to watch the colors flashing around the top of the Empire State Building, with jubilant reactions from the crowd. As Obama gained victories, the decorations became more and more blue. According to CBS, NBC News converted Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan into the “Democracy Plaza,” with an election map playing out over the ice rink. In contrast to the chaos at FOX, NBC and ABC were increasingly jubilant as time went on. The crowds at both networks became very excited, even after a 20-minute blackout at ABC, reports CBS. Anchors such as Diane Sawyer seemed pleased throughout the night.

(For us lovable fact-checkers at Vote-up RIT, that translates into “employment opportunities.” Just saying.)

In conclusion, while not every newsroom handled Election Night in an ideal manner, it’s pleasing to see that on-the-ball coverage remains paramount among the networks. It’s also good to see more attention being brought to data and raw facts as versus biased, partisan opinions. Most of all, though, being part of the newsroom, whether inside-or-out, remains a great experience.

Contributors

Kirsten Burkhardt is a fourth-year biomedical sciences major at RIT. She is from Brockport, yet plans to move to the West Coast and pursue a medical degree in non-traditional orthopedics after graduation this spring. Kirsten, 21, enjoys running and advocating for a healthy lifestyle, and has set the goal of completing all 5Ks that RIT offers throughout her last year of undergraduate study. You can reach Kirsten at Kab4926@rit.edu or on Twitter @Kab4926.

Emily Clark is a 20-year-old journalism major from Henrietta. In her third year at RIT, she is the director of talent for RIT SportsZone and an aspiring writer/broadcast journalist. Emily’s favorite things include reading, running, yoga and blue nail polish. She has a slight (understatement) weakness when it comes to sweets. Contact Emily by e-mail at eec8289@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @emelizclark.

Gino Fanelli is a second-year journalism student from Rochester. A dedicated and passionate writer, Gino aims to create stories that build broad, yet concrete, bridges between American culture and socio-political issues. With the presidential elections slowly inching closer, Gino hopes to reveal the thoughts of the average American on the race, especially after the heated race of 2008. Outside from his writing, Gino is an avid musician and artist. Follow him on Twitter @GinoFanelli.

William Hirsh is a second-year journalism student from Syracuse. A political junkie, William is ecstatic about covering the presidential elections this year, striving to make sense of the political debate and the key issues at stake. This will be his first year voting in a national election. Follow him on Twitter @Chauvet12.

Andrew Magown is a third-year student in University Studies. He is looking to move into the field of journalism soon to follow his career path. He lives in Essex, Conn., and currently studies at RIT. He is involved with the on-campus fraternity of Kappa Delta Rho and enjoys dancing at the Ballroom Dance Club. This will be his second time voting. He watches the candidates with eager eyes. If you have any questions for him e-mail him at amm6914@g.rit.edu, or follow him on Twitter @amagown.

Bianca Meyers is a fourth-year journalism major at RIT. She is from Deltona, Fla., but currently resides in Gates with her husband and two dogs. She is interested in fashion and entertainment news and runs a beauty and style blog. Feel free to contact Bianca at bcm9818@rit.edu with questions or follow her on Twitter @Bianca_Meyers.

William Palmer is a fourth-year photojournalism major at RIT. Born in Kāneʻohe Bay, Hawaii and raised in Newark Valley, N.Y. He plans to move to New Orleans after graduating from RIT in November. He primarily focuses on sports and news photography. He has received honors and awards for his photography from the RIT Honors Show, 66th CPOY and the What We Do Show. William took the class headshots featured here. William can be e-mailed at wap9860@rit.edu and followed on Twitter @wpalmerphoto.

Jessica Sinclair, 24, grew up in Maine with two sisters and one brother. She is a third-year journalism student at RIT. She really enjoys writing, which has always been her passion. She also likes reading and writing about medical and health topics. Feel free to contact her if you have any questions, or comment on her posts. She can be reached through Twitter @SinclairJess.

Alexandria Strader is a fourth-year advertising and public relations student from Rochester. In addition to completing her studies at RIT, she is also the digital marketing associate for Cortese Auto Block. When Allie isn’t busy chasing after her dog, Harry, you may find her at a country music concert, sampling wines and desserts at a local festival, or catching the latest sale at the mall. This is the second presidential election that she will vote in. For more information, contact her at acs1715@gmail.com, or follow her on Twitter @acstrader.

Mike Weiss is a fourth-year journalism student from New Hampshire. He’s currently studying at the weird and wonderful RIT. Mike likes writing about politics and the oddities of pop culture. He likes to think he’s very entertaining; unfortunately, we have to put up with his terrible jokes. Feel free to contact Mike at @mikegweiss on Twitter or mikegweiss@gmail.com.

Chris Zubak-Skees is a fourth-year journalism major at RIT. He hails from Pittsburgh, Pa., but only roots for the Steelers in fair weather. He’s written for RIT Reporter Magazine, Infinity Quad – a blog he started to cover campus – and the Sunlight Foundation in Washington, D.C., and hopes to do this for a living someday. You can follow him @zubakskees or reach him via chriszs@mail.rit.edu.